As electronic devices have proliferated over the last one hundred years or so, the problem of how to dispose of spent electronic equipment has necessitated the invention of methods to dispose of it safely. Electronic waste includes whole devices, such as televisions, computers, phones, audio and video recorders, cameras, printers, peripheral devices, and countless other electronic devices. Electronic waste also includes electronic parts, components, and raw materials used in the manufacturing of electronic devices. It is often difficult to dispose of electronic waste in an environmentally-friendly manner, because electronic devices are made up of numerous types of materials with properties that are problematic in different ways. Some of the materials, such as mercury, lead, arsenic, cadmium, battery chemicals, and countless others are too hazardous to simply dispose in landfills without mitigation. Other materials, such as plastics and metals, are not necessarily hazardous, but their size and the time that they take to biodegrade result in large quantities of landfill volume. Further, many of these materials are valuable ones that could be recycled and re-used in other products. The number of electronic devices manufactured and subsequently discarded has multiplied exponentially in recent years, and is likely to continue to increase in the years to come. Some estimates forecast that the currently produced amount of electronic waste will double over the next decade.
Currently, some of the electronic waste is recycled and disposed of in a safe and environmentally responsible manner. Unfortunately, the percentage of all electronic waste that is properly disposed is low. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), on the order of only 15%-20% of waste in the United States is managed responsibly. This is the case even though the United States has fairly stringent regulations on the disposal of electronic waste. Because not all of the waste is properly disposed, the majority of it ends up in United States landfills. Additionally, a large amount of waste is disposed in landfills in countries without electronic waste regulations, creating long-term environmental risks for the land and the countries' inhabitants. A great need exists for improving existing electronic waste recycling systems and for reducing the overall amount of electronic waste.